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Sophocles Essays & Research Papers

Best Sophocles Essays

1. Where and when did Sophocles live? Athens, 5th century BC
2. The philosopher Aristotle wrote an influential text on drama called... The Poetics
3. What did Greek actors wear? Masks
4. Greek plays feature a group of performers who sing, dance, provide exposition and interact with the other characters. This group is called... The Chorus
5. Who was Antigone's father? Oedipus
6. Antigone's two brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, did what? Fought on opposite sides in a war for power in...

Sophocles (/ˈsɒfəkliːz/;[1] Greek: Σοφοκλῆς, Sophoklēs, Ancient Greek: [sopʰoklɛ̂ːs]; c. 497/6 BC – winter 406/5 BC)[2] is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides. According to the Suda, a 10th-century encyclopedia, Sophocles wrote 123 plays during the course of his life, but only seven have survived in a complete form: Ajax, Antigone, The Women of...

PRIDE
Pride – “A high or inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing & conduct Pride is basically feeling proud of something you accomplished or did. On the other hand pride can also be the total opposite. People can take advantage of their pride and hold it against others. In Antigone there were an exotic amount of examples of pride. Pride can from many characters; although the main signs of pride...

The Power of Choice
Choices affect all of our lives. We are always faced with choices. What we do with those choices will determine how are lives will turn out, what destiny lies before us and even what will become of us. The choices we make are in our complete control. Whether we make choices during the heat of the moment or with an open mind there are going to be consequences that follow whether good or bad are can only be blamed on us. Sophocles’s Antigone portrays human emotions and...

1,482 Words | 4 Pages

All Sophocles Essays

THE GREEK THEATRE
2) Is Oedipus a Tragic Hero?
Answer this question demonstrating specific understandings of the concepts of Tragedy and the Tragic Hero.
In the Greek play, "King Oedipus" written by Sophocles, certain characteristics, which determine the traits of a tragic hero, reveal themselves as the play unfolds. These traits enable readers to enjoy a more enhanced reading of the play and also serve to evoke a particular response from the reader.
Readers...

In the tragedy play Oedipus by Sophocles, Oedipus’ self-destruction and fall from the power leaves him as the villain and not the hero. The very thing he fights so hard to discover is at leads to his self-destruction. Therefore, we tend to feel sorrow for Oedipus seeing that was only the fate of the God and the oracles. Oedipus is a tragic hero who fails to achieve happiness in such a way that it brings upon fear and pity by everyone.
First we look at Oedipus behaviors at the beginning, we...

In Sophocles’ play Antigone one major theme is the danger of pride or stubbornness. Some characters become so involved with their goals that they forget of any other options and accept harsh penalties for their actions. In the cases of Antigone, Haemon and Creon the consequences of their actions wind up to be very extreme and lead to the deaths of these three characters.
For her brother’s proper burial, Antigone goes to extreme lengths to fulfill her goal no matter what stands in her way....

The primary characteristic of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex is that it is an ironic play. The play's irony grasps the audience in a profound way because of the awareness that occurs regarding everything that is going on. Even though we, as observers, are sickened at the tragic life of Oedipus and the other characters, we are still able to appreciate the ironical characteristics of the play itself. The irony primarily exists in the context of man being free, but at the same time, fated.
Without doubt,...

Raquel Regalado
Professor Templeton
GNHU285_14SP10
10 April 2010
Electra by Sophocles
Freytag Triangle:
Setting/Exposition: The play starts with at Mycenae before the palace of Agamemnon where Pylades, Orestes, and Paedagogous.
Inciting Incident: Paedagogous introduce Orestes to his father’s city and urge him to take action for the injustice of his father’s death. Agamemnon being killed already and what has been happening since then. Agamemnon wife...

﻿KC Brunell
World Literature
Passage Analysis
7/23/14
The passage I chose to analyze was part of the conversion between Creon and Antigone after Antigone was caught in her attempt to bury her brother Polynices.
Creon said to Antigone:
“Believe me, the stiffest stubborn wills
fall the hardest; the toughest iron,
tempered strong in the white-hot-fire,
you’ll see it crack and shatter first of all.
And I’ve know spirited horses you can break
With a light bit – proud...

Austin Jones
December 2, 2012
English Period B
Ms. Mazz
Oedipus the King:
1. Free will plays a greater role than fate in this play. Fate plays a greater role because the characters make their own decisions. They make the decisions that lead to their downfall. An example of how free will plays a greater role than fate in this play is when Oedipus decides to continue his search for his real parents. Jocasta warns him and tells him to call of the search. “Stop. In the name of god, if you...

In Antigone, Sophocles positions the readers to condemn Creon as a misogynist.
In Antigone, Creon is the newly appointed ruler of Thebes, and after banishing all burial rights to Antigone’s brother, Polynices, Antigone refuses to obey this order and buries him anyway. Creon is pitted against Antigone who holds up the will of the gods and the honor of her family above all else, and thus he appears to be against these values. His behavior, however, suggests otherwise. He aggressively preaches the...

Period three (3)
September 13, 2011
Antigone
1. What has happened to the two brothers and what does Ismene mean by the phrase “by doubled hand”? | They fought each other to see who would become king. The phrase Ismene used “by doubled hand” meant that by killing themselves, they killed each other. |
2. Why does Antigone suggest that she would be a traitor if she complied with the law? | Due to the fact that it would not be fair to only bury the brother whom was “welcome” in the...

Oedipus the ideal Tragic Hero
Kelli Richards
Liberty University
Abstract
In the play Oedipus Rex, Sophocles portrays Oedipus who is also the main character, as a good- natured, beautiful, noble yet narcissistic person who has a lapse of judgment and fall from power. Throughout the play Oedipus makes a few profound decisions for which he is condemned to plentiful...

Michael Baker
Professor Bryan
English 2100
29 July 2013
Creon as a Tyrant in Antigone, by Sophocles
Corruption because of power has been a constant theme of mankind since the dawn of humanity. “Antigone”, by Sophocles, is an excellent example of an author’s attempt to portray this theme in a play. This theme is evident throughout the poem, but is especially clear in the dialogue between Creon and the Sentry, and eventually Antigone, beginning on line 248 and ending on line 594.
Tyranny...

Ashley Girard
Don Macon
ENGL 2332
16 September 2012
Greek Drama: Aeschylus and Sophocles
Famous playwrights Sophocles and Aeschylus have various similarities and differences in their writing styles. In The Oresteia: Agamemnon, Aeschylus focuses more on the seemingly cold blooded murder itself as opposed to the influence behind it. Although the reason for the killing of Agamemnon and Cassandra is stated, the author chooses to linger in the description of the act itself, making the murders...

The Life and Work of Sophocles
\ Sophocles was born in Colunus, near Athens, c. 497 B.C. Sophocles father was a wealthy armorer named Sophillus and his mother was named Jocasta. Once he reached adulthood he was already recognized as a great tragic play write, and the citizens of Athens loved him. Some wonder why he’s so famous, and that’s because he was an amazing Greek writer and play write. He was a Greek dramatist whose long career came between his contemporaries, Aeschylus and Euripides....

The Sophocles Play Antigone:
All the way through this play Antigone is solely being devoted to her family. Antigone is eager to go above and beyond her limits for her family. Antigone is a vital character in this play. Antigone is a very brave, passionate, and willing character that is not enthusiastic about her brother being defiled even if it means her own life. Creon is a character that he knows all commandments and is influenced that he must abide it. Creon then has compassion for...

Alexis Jones
Mr. Rowland
English 11 Honors
30 September 2014
Oedipus Tragic Flaw
Oedipus Rex is a story about a tragic hero that has a flaw that helps and harms him, he is flawed from the start brought him about his own actions and he is a leader that faces a tragic end with honor. The author of this book is Sophocles
Oedipus flaw was his pride .During this story Oedipus was very ignorant toward the people around him because he didn’t want to believe that what they were saying was...

Sophocles and Rita Dove
While Sophocles' Oedipus the King and Rita Dove's 'The Darker Face of the Earth' share themes, such as, abandonment, fate, struggle, incest, and death, Dove goes even further and explores the themes of slavery and racial tensions in pre-Civil War South Carolina. Rita Dove’s The Darker Face of the Earth retells the Oedipus drama in the context of an African American slave. While, through its emphasis on Greek motifs and themes it gives the impression of being a...

The personalities of the two sisters; Antigone and Ismene, are as different from
one another as tempered steel is from a ball of cotton. One is hard and resistant; the
other: pliable, absorbing and soft. Antigone would have been a strong, successful
90's type woman with her liberated and strong attitude towards her femininity, while
Ismene seems to be a more dependent 1950's style woman. Antigone acts as a free
spirit, a defiant individual, while Ismene is content to recognize her own...

Dasia M. Thomas
March 12, 2011
2nd
The Greek tragedies, “Medea” and “Antigone” are best understood when studied in terms of the central conflict and the resolution. Both “Antigone’ and “Medea” were written in the beginning of the sixth century B.C. in Greece, and are similar tragic Greek plays. “Antigone” takes place in the city of Thebes, and the protagonist is Antigone, daughter of Oedipus. Antigone faces an external conflict; she struggles with the new King, her uncle Creon, as she...

Tragic Hero
The Greek play, Antigone stresses the position of power and virtue against written law. Creon, in my opinion best qualifies for being the tragic hero. His actions, words, and the comments surrounding him prove that a man who is supplied for life could lose all of it.
His actions demonstrate him as a tragic hero. Creon’s belief in nationalism and leadership is demonstrated when he said: “I call to God to witness that if I saw my country headed for ruin, I should not be afraid to...

Bailey 1
Devereaux Bailey
Dr. Nokes
Comp 2
April 8, 2011
Creon's Foil in Sophocles' Plays
Contrary to the traditional definition of a foil, Creon is a foil to himself in Oedipus the King and Antigone, demonstrating the corrupting influence of power. Showing one man's life perfect, serving his King till blasphemy reasoning and being blood thirsty for power overtakes his actions until it is to late.
In the two plays written by Sophocles (Oedipus the King and Antigone),Creon displays...

Sophocles, Oedipus the King
The following analysis will examine Oedipus the King, by Sophocles. The following questions will be addressed: What is the historical context of this period? What are the storylines, as revealed in the document? What does the document reveal about the Greek notion of fate and free-will? Who was the author and does he reveal a bias? What was the author’s intent in writing this and whom did he see as his audience? And lastly, what stands out as particularly...

Emmanuel Roberts
English 112
Spring 2010
Research Paper
Antigone
Introduction
Greek playwright Sophocles wrote the last play in the Theban Trilogy, Antigone, around 442n B.C. The Theban Trilogy consists of Oedipus Rex (Oedipus the king); Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone, but the play considered the last of the three was, ironically, written first. Only seven of Sophocles’ one hundred twenty three tragedies have survived to the modern era with the trilogy surviving the ages...

The tragic play Medea is a struggle between reason and violence. Medea is deliberately portrayed as not a normal woman', but excessive in her passions. Medea is a torment to herself and to others; that is why Euripides shows her blazing her way through life leaving wreckage behind her. Euripides has presented Medea as a figure previously thought of exclusively as a male- hero. Her balance of character is a combination of the outstanding qualities of Achilles and Odysseus.
The problem set at...

Sophocles: Family vs. Law
Family, an important theme of life, gets expressed throughout many ways in society. Family may take precedence over many things, including authority and the law. Within the tragic play, Antigone, the author Sophocles presents situations where the characters have to choose between their family and the law. The characters must choose what is more important to them, their family or obeying the laws of Thebes. Throughout the play, Sophocles presents a strong theme of...

Even though King Creon is thought of as someone who knows how to control a nation, he contains a tragic flaw noticed by others and himself, which results in an unpleasant death. In the story “Antigone” by Sophocles, King Creon’s pride and stubborn actions leads his son, Haemon to be disappointed and loose his trust towards his father. Through his ways of being unable to admit his mistakes, his anger brought him to a stage where he became associated with civil law rather than believing in his...

Clark 1
The play Oedipus The King begins with the king and queen of Thebes, Laius and Jocasta. Laius was warned by an oracle that his own son would kill him and that he would marry his mother, Jocasta. Determined to reverse their fate, Laius pierced and bound his newborn sons feet and sent a servant away with him with strict instructions to leave the child to die on the mountain of Cithaeron. However, the servant felt badly for the infant and gave him to a shepherd who then gave the child to...

THE KING WEARS A SHADES AS THE SUN SHINES BRIGHT WHICH MAKES HIS
DAYS DARKER AND DARKER EVERY SINGLE DAY
(with some relations to the Philippine Government and setting as a whole)
A POSITION PAPER ON SOPHOCLES’
OEDIPUS REX
REGULANO, Jean Paula Bermudez
2011-05787
HUM 1 X
Oedipus Rex’ knowledge, which served as his gut against the others to be the King of
Thebes, is only limited to the information on his people and his environment, excluding the
information about himself due to...

Dramatic Irony in Oedipus
In the play written by Sophocles, Oedipus the King, there are several instances of irony. Dramatic irony, or tragic irony as some critics would prefer to call it, usually means a situation in which the character of the play has limited knowledge and says or does something in which they have no idea of the significance. The audience, however, already has the knowledge of what is going to occur or what the consequences of the characters actions will be. The degree of...

﻿
Spenser Pulleyking
1436071
University of Tulsa
HON-1003-02
The Many Faces of Electra: Aeschylus and Sophocles
1385 Words
Dr. Avi Mintz
While Helen of Troy might have had a face that launched a thousand ships, Electra of Argos had a face that launched a thousand stories. Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, three famous ancient Greek playwrights from the 4th and 5th Century BCE, all produced their own versions of Electra’s story that survive to this...

The Oedipus Plays of Sophocles: Oedipus The King
Oedipus the king a son of prophecies, a gift or a curse? Oedipus the king of Thebes, son of the late King Laius and Queen Jocasta; at birth a prophecy was placed upon him that he would kill his father, marry his mother, and bare children with her. The king and queen came to the conclusion that their one and only son must be killed in efforts to save the kingdom. They couldn’t find the strength to do it themselves so they give him to a...

Navi Kaur
Oedipus the King
As Steve Jobs once said, “Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something —your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” Similar to Steve Jobs’, Oedipus in the play overcame through many obstacles in his life over his fate....

Usually, in novels, the main character's strength overshadows his weaknesses. In the Greek tragedy "Antigone", however, the main character of the same name has as many strong points as weak ones. In the next paragraphs, I will point out Antigone's strengths, weaknesses and, finally, the evolution of the character throughout the play.
It goes without saying that Antigone is an extremely strong woman for her time and even for ours. She does have evident strengths. Throughout the play, she stands...

Oedipus Rex and Tragedy
Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex is, in short, the story of a man who unknowingly kills his father and marries his mother. It certainly sounds like a tragedy, doesn’t it? But the classification and definition of ‘tragedy’ are one of the many things widely disputed in the realm of literary studies. So, for the purposes here we’ll use Aristotle’s five criteria of a tragedy: a tragic hero of noble birth, a tragic flaw or mistake, a fall from grace, a moment of remorse, and...

In Antigone, written by Sophocles, Creon dominates the play with his powerful yet arrogant personality. Even though Antigone is the name of this play, Creon, the ruling king of Thebes with a no turning back attitude, proves to be the main character. Creon rules over everyone but that does not stop the intelligent Antigone from protecting her brothers dead body. She gets caught in this illegal act by the very dynamic character of Creon. There are endless personality traits to describe Creon, but...

﻿Caroline Cundiff
Mrs. Nancy Diepenbrock
AP English IV
16 September 2014
Creon as a Tragic Hero
“The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.” This quotation written by F. Scott Fitzgerald centuries after the famous Greek playwrights directly correlates to Aristotle’s characteristics of a tragic hero. In the Greek Tragedy, Antigone by Sophocles, the king, Creon, displays the qualities that fit...

﻿To what extent do Euripides and Sophocles portray women as the cause of tragedy in Medea, Hippolytus, Oedipus The King and Antigone?
Women in the plays of both Euripides and Sophocles is a subject of much debate, indeed it seems as though people’s view on these female characters may well have changed over time for nearly two and a half thousand years have passed since the plays themselves were written. And no doubt people’s views, particularly with regards to women, have changed. One could...

"We cannot believe, we cannot deny; all is dark."(King Oedipus, pg. 39) Throughout the tragedies of Sophocles there are seers and prophets and the resolution of whether to believe their predictions or to disregard them. This internal struggle of belief causes the prophets to play a major role in the outcome of events in both King Oedipus and Antigone.
In the two tragedies by Sophocles there are prophets made and the characters who hear them are torn. "My heart is torn in two. Its hard to give...

Known today as the "Nature versus Nurture" debate, the question of human social conduct and character development has remained a topic of interest for many philosophical discussions. Centered around the natural and socially constructed, ancient Greeks referred to this debate as physis versus nomos  is individual behavior a primary product of custom and convention or absolute natural fact? Greek mythology addresses this dichotomy of mankind through scenarios of interaction between man and the...

Diana Soproni
Humanities 123
Prof: Adrian Guiu
Date: 2.9.12
The Significance of Going Blind in Sophocles, King Oedipus
One of the most important theme in Oedipus Rex, remains the theme of blinding himself, Oedipus, central character of the play, ruler of Thebes, conqueror of the Sphinx, a great leader and role model a character dominated by valor and strong will. His destiny is sad; gods will help him to rise up to be a good king and to be loved by the people, and in the end help him...

Analysis of Euripides' Medea and Sophocles' Oedipus Rex
Greek tragedies are some of the most compelling and interesting works of literature. The plot usually follows a common patten in which a heroic lead meets an unhappy or catastrophic end. This end is usually brought about by some fatal flaw of character, circumstances beyond his or her control, or by sheer destiny. In Medea, a tragedy written by Euripides, the focus is on conflict in human spirit between Medea’s love for her children and...

In Sophocles’ Antigone, the audience experiences a catharsis wherein sympathy and fear is evoked for Creon, a tragic hero whose Kingship was spoilt by corruption, human fallibility and pride. Throughout the play, Creon has demonstrated how even rulers with a strong moral stance can still fail in their attempts to do good, unfortunately due to exceeding the limits of their humanity.
To begin, the tragedy that befalls Creon as a man devoted to his country and to his religion seems to feel...

To go to far is as bad as to fall short. Confucius. Everything should be done in moderation and there should be a healthy equilibrium in all situations and aspects of life. Something taken too far is the equal to something not taken far enough; both concepts are flawed and cause confliction. These are the beliefs that the Greek gods held and also imposed on their people. Know thy self; nothing in excess was inscribed at Temple Apollo at Delphi in Ancient Greek. Temple Apollo is known to be the...

Antigone and Oedipus The King, written by Sophocles, are deeply tragic plays with a dramatic ending. In both plays, fate arises the question: could have Creon, Oedipus, Antigone, and the rest of the family, prevented the misfortunes, which fell upon them? Or were their lives cursed upon by determination? With every event that took place, the possibility of another occurrence was either higher or lower. One can see that every action brings upon an ironic outcome. Also, the deadly flaw of hubris...

Timed Write Rewrite
Prompt 3: What is the most important word, sentence or quote from this text and why?
In an argument between King Creon and his son Haimon, the author reveals that with power, pride and refusal of corrections start to develop. In the Greek play Antigone, Sophocles creates a story about an arrogant, power-hungry king. In doing so, he reveals the consequences of being a dictator, rather than being a noble ruler —an issue that can be found in many countries since many...

In the famous play Antigone, by the ancient Greek writer Sophocles, many values of the culture in Thebes is portrayed through Antigone’s actions and experiences. In Antigone’s quest to bury her brother, she is alienated from society due to her uncle Creon - who also happens to be the king of Thebes. Creon, who is unwilling to let a woman get the better of him, refuses to let his responsibility to his family overpower his responsibility to the state. Although Creon is reluctant to believe that...

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST BETWEEN THE LAWS,CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AND MAN-WOMAN IN SOPHOCLES’ ANTIGONE
1.Introduction
Antigone is a tragedy by Sophocles written in or before 441 BC. It is a play about one girl’s beliefs against the injustices of civil law and the success of the orders of the gods. Sophocles creates a free woman figure against not only the mortal laws of the state but also men’s power. He engages necessity of harmony between tradition and state in Antigone. It deals with Ancient...

In Sophocles' inferential play, Antigone, the characters, and story line very much compare with the movie, "The Long Walk Home." In the story, Antigone, a young girl named Antigone is stuck in the middle of a crisis in which she must make an important decision whereas in the movie "The long walk home" Odessa, a black maid, must fight off racism and raise the family of her own as well as her employers.
Both the play Antigone and the movie, "The long walk home" have many things in common. For...

Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, contains a very prominent tragic hero: Oedipus. A tragic hero, by Aristotle's definition of one, must possess six traits. One of them is that the tragic hero must be of noble stature. Another trait of a tragic hero is a tragic flaw. A third trait defined by Aristotle is that a tragic hero must have a period of recognition of his crimes. Oedipus strongly displays each of the three aforementioned, necessary traits; and he is, then, an obvious tragic hero.
Oedipus'...

The great poet Aristotle once said that Sophocles portrayed men as they ought to be while Euripides portrayed men as they really are. It can be argued that Sophocles did not portray an idealized version of man because his works did have both an antagonist and a protagonist, but even the antagonists in Sophocles plays were scrupulous. Furthermore, the manner in which Euripides portrays the characters in his plays adheres to a level of psychology unprecedented in his time, thus portraying men as...

Analysis of Tragedy and the Common Man
By: Nathan Roberts
In literature, tragedy is usually expressed as an extremely cataclysmic event that causes the protagonist to fall into despair. According to Arthur Miller in his academic essay, “Tragedy and the Common Man”, tragedy is a factor in life that can happen to everyone from the common man to kings and queens. Miller’s representation of tragedy can be easily...

"Why should a man respect the Pythian hearth, or
Give heed to the birds that jangle above his head?
They prophesied that I should kill Polybos,
Kill my own father; but he is dead and buried,
And I am here-I never touched him, never,
Unless he died of grief for my departure,
And thus, in a sense, through me. No. Polybos
Has packed the oracles off with him underground.
They are empty words." -Oedipus, Oedipus Rex
These are words spoken by Oedipus about the falseness of Oracles before he...

One of the finest Greek philosophers of his time, Sophocles's plays are still alive today. Antigone, written in around 441 BC, contains universal themes such as suicide, marriage, power and man against the state, which is still relevant today. The two protagonists of the play, Antigone and king of Thebes Creon, can be interpreted as two very similar characters with very diverse values. Their role in the play is also quite divergent and through use of dramatic devices, diction, contrast, and...

Creon, the King of Thebes, and Bernarda, who is the head of her household are the most powerful characters in their plays. Both characters want to have complete control over everything and everyone around them; however both suffer losses as a result of their attitudes and use of power. The main difference between Creon and Bernarda is how they react to these losses and to the challenges to their authority. It is this aspect which the essay will explore.
The House of Bernarda has an...

Antigone Tragic Hero Essay
Most Greek tragedies were based on myths and consisted of a series of dramatic episodes mixed with a chorus who commented on the dramatic action or analyzed the pattern of events. The role of a tragic hero was vital to the tragic plays. Sophocles argues that a tragic hero is a character who possesses six specific traits. A tragic hero must be of noble stature, can not be perfect, their downfall most be their fault, their misfortune is not wholly deserved, the fall is...

Oedipus at Colonus is the story of the last day in the life of Oedipus. After many year of wandering, Oedipus arrives in a grove outside Athens and understands that this is the place he would die. Theseus, king of Athens and its surroundings, promises to give Oedipus the right to be buried in Colonus and to protect his secret burial place. More than that, Theseus brings back Oedipus' daughters who were abducted by Creon. Oedipus apologizes for not thanking Theseus right away, instead of talking...

In the play Antigone, Sophocles uses many important literary elements, but of the most important is irony. Three types of irony he uses are dramatic, attitudinal, and verbal irony. Sophocles' use of irony in Antigone has a great impact on the play. If Sophocles did not use irony in his play, the events in the scenes would have been very different from what they are now. Irony is also used to add suspense, making the reader wonder what was going to happen next? Sophocles successfully accomplished...

When reading the works of two great writers, a person can find many similarities between them. The underlying themes of Shakespeare's Hamlet and Sophocles Oedipus King excite the reader yet leave us with the desire of wanting more. There are significant similarities between Oedipus King and Hamlet, especially when it relates to the theme of the tormented king, incest, and Shakespeare's and Sophocles metaphorical references to vision and hearing. Sophocles Oedipus King and Shakespeare's Hamlet...

Women in Classical Ancient Greece (5th Century BC) held an inferior social position to men. Although they were prominent in the Greek Mythology (Goddess of Wisdom Athena, Goddess of the Hunt Artemis) and writing such as Sophocles' Antigone (441 BC), the average woman stayed at home, spinning and weaving and doing household chores.
They never acted as hostesses when their husbands had parties and were seen in public only at the theater (tragic but not comic) and certain religious festivals....

Conscience vs. Society
Conscience and society are often in conflict with one another. Your culture and the people around you may be telling you to do one thing, while in your heart; you feel that a different way is the way to go. This is exactly what happens in Sophocles’ play Antigone. Ismene, Haimon, and Creon all have a difficult time choosing between following what their conscience is saying and what society thinks, which leads to conflict between the characters.
Ismene faces this...

“Antigone”
How can these two plays have so much in common? The plays Antigone and Hippolytus share numerous similarities, such as the environment of the characters, how the characters act and make bad choices and how in the end of the plays the tragic heroes end up dying or suffering for the mistakes they do. The characters make similar choices and mistakes. These two plays talk about gods and how men that do not obey the god´s orders are punished. These two plays have similar tragic...

Antigone Scene 1: Tone
In Antigone by Sophocles, the character of Creon is portrayed as volatile, narcissistic, and hypocritical. All these qualities can be clearly seen in his tone during scene 1 of Antigone where Creon addresses the chorus as their king, and also receives new of Eteocles’ burial. His tone when addressing different parties and also his shifts in tone give the reader an invaluable insight into his personalities and goals.
The scene opens with Creon addressing the chorus in...

﻿Kourtney C
October 31, 2011
Phil110 Phil R 11-1150
Is Antigone’s execution just?
The question of justice comes up a lot within Greek tragedies. Throughout the book, The Republic, Socrates is trying to define justice and what it truly means. A famous philosopher, Martha Nussbaum, analyzes the idea of human ethical life according to the Greeks and understanding the cause of human tragedy. I will be relating Martha’s interview to the story of Antigone, answering the question of whether...

﻿Eryka Villarreal
Bibliography Essay
Engl 2332
Sophocles: Oedipus the King
The most obvious theme expressed is the symbolism of free will. This issue is manifested in the plot itself and is a central theme in the play. It goes without saying that this problem of free will is still relevant till this day and has been a major topic throughout history. Another central issue dealt with in Oedipus Rex, Oedipus the King, or also known as Oedipus Tyrannus is fate. These two issues will be key...

Medea vs. Antigone
The two Greek plays, Medea and Antigone both exhibit opening scenes that serve numerous purposes. Such as establishing loyalties, undermining assumptions on the part of the audience, foreshadowing the rest of the play, and outlining all of the issues. Medea and Antigone share many similarities in their openings.
Both plays begin with providing the audience with the history and the consequences of certain situations that the characters were involved in. It also...

The Modern-day Reflection
Today one may ask why it is that students study dusty old pieces of clay, or scrolls with fading ink. About two and a half thousand years ago authors such as Aristophanes, Sophocles, Aristotle and many others wrote works that are still read today. What these people have yet to grasp is the importance of the influence of the culture, the language, the many lessons learned and have yet to establish connections to the modern-day world expressed in Greek literature....

Dramatic Research Paper (Grade 92)
“Oedipus Rex” by Sophocles
Introduction/Thesis
“Oedipus Rex” was a Greek Tragedy written by Sophocles in the fifth century BC. It was the first of a trilogy of plays surrounding the life of Oedipus. Sophocles wrote over 120 plays approximately 100 years before Aristotle even defined a tragedy and the tragic hero. Aristotle’s definition of a tragedy is “… an imitation of an action of high importance, complete and of some amplitude; in language...

‘Antigone’ Paper 2 Essay
(e). Evil not only fascinates people in general, but writers as well. In what ways and with what effect has “evil” been treated in Antigone?
In the play of ‘Antigone’, evil appears in many forms. There is the soldier who is a traitor to his nation; the sister trying to prove her love for her family yet ends up breaking the law; the king who so eagerly tries to stop rule-breakers yet he himself neglects his flesh and blood. Here the difference of the two works is...

Antigone: Not the Tragic Hero
Sophocles, a great tragedian, was the one who gave Greek tragedies their traditional form. An important part of traditional Greek tragedies is the presence of a tragic hero. All tragic heroes should have the characteristics of rank, a tragic flaw, a downfall, and a recognition of mistakes. The seemingly tragic hero is Antigone. She wants to bury her brother Polyneices even though this would be going against Creon, who is her uncle and the king. When Antigone buries...

Aristotle saw tragedy as centering around a tragic hero, a basically noble person (well, he said "man") with a tragic flaw--hamartia. This flaw ususally took the form of hubris--excessive pride, so excessive that the person with it considered himself equal to the gods and thus, with no sense of his own ability to make mistakes, made some really terrible ones. Aristotle's tragedy involved a change (reversal) of fortune, which could go from bad to good just as well as from good to bad. He did,...

Option 2 The Burial at Thebes
What is the main contribution made by the Chorus in The Burial at Thebes?
Answer with specific references to the text of the play.
A chorus is a common element to Greek tragedy’s and in ancient theatre consisted of a group of people who provide a number of different contributions to a play, providing a historical perspective, acting as counsellors and advisors to the plays characters and at times representing various groups such as villagers or a jury....

The True Tragic Hero
In Sophocles' play Oedipus Rex, every reader is riding a roller coaster of his life. Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero is one person who goes through five stages which in Sophocles' play the main character Oedipus does. The five stages that he goes through are pre-eminence, flaw, fall, gaining of insight, and rise.
Pre-eminent is one who surpasses all the others or should be looked up to. Oedipus at the beginning of the play starts of with the priest saying, "O Great...

Five Important Points of “On Misunderstanding the Oedipus Rex”
• Oedipus Rex attempt to justify the ways of God to man by:
1. “Proving” that we get what we deserve. An example is how Oedipus treated Creon badly, so the gods punished him.
2. Oedipus Rex is “a tragedy of destiny”, the play “proves that man has no freewill and is controlled by gods.
3. Sophocles was “a pure artist”, so he is not interested in justifying the gods, and Oedipus Rex was merely an exciting play.
•...

Pearce 1
Camille Pearce
Ms. Kettle
IB English Period D
12 October 2014
Antigone; A Martyr Who Dies for the Wrong Reasons
Pearce 2
Antigone as a strong and determined tragic hero who presents herself as a powerful woman
who will not be defined by a man. Antigone is steadfast in her decision to disobey the law and
bury her brother and dose not hesitate to take fully responsibility for her actions even if it means
death. Unfortunately, Antigone does not consider the effect her death will...

Antigone
Loyal. Unyielding. Powerful. Prideful. These words describe a ruler, who faces a tragedy unlike no other. In Antigone, a play written by Sophocles, the main character Antigone faces difficult decisions that revolve around a foolish law created by her uncle, Creon. This law is the cause of the many hardships and tragedies Creon face. Although Creon makes this unjust law, he is still a hero.
In the beginning of the play, Creon makes an unjust and unreasonable law. The law...

Chosen Plays: Death of a Salesman and Oedipus Rex
This essay will not be focusing on the entire play but three dramatic devices use by the two playwrights and in terms of the audience response. Arthur Miller is known as one of the best writers of the post war era and Great depression through his experience with his life at the time, complied some challenging, intriguing work.Biography.com writes “Arthur Miller was an American playwright whose biting criticism of societal problems...

Antigone, by Sophocles, is a play with many themes. So, I will be talking about , what some critics have said about the themes, state laws versus Individual rights, Morals, stubborness and Love.
Antigone and her values line up with the first entity in each pair, while Creon and his values line up with the second. Ismene chooses to do nothing under the threat of the law whereas Antigone chooses to act despite the possible penalties. Antigone and Creon are both championing what is...

Creon's tragic Downfall
Creon is the tragic hero of the play, Antigone, by Sophocles, and suffers the greatest downfall. It all begins when he maes his public announcment as the new king. He states his message loud and clearly to everyone, that if anyone feels the need to bury the body od Polyneices, they will be going against the law and will be sentenced to death. In this powerful speech, he shows the need for control and order in the way he plans to rule. At the same time, he is showing...

Qualifications of a Tragic Hero: Antigone vs. Creon
In the tragedy of Antigone by Sophocles, Antigone, the main protagonist, is conflicted whether or not to bury her dead brother and go against Creon’s law or follow Creon’s law. Creon is the main antagonist in this story and punishes Antigone for breaking his law and burying Polynieces. Though they are two different characters, Creon and Antigone could both qualify as the tragic hero because they are both responsible for their own fate,...

Creon: A Virtuous King?
Antigone is a Greek Tragedy that was written in 441 B.C. by Sophocles who is considered one of the great tragedians of the Greek time period and even today. Antigone is a complex play which centers on the two main characters, Antigone and Creon; Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and the niece to Creon. This play starts with brothers to Antigone, Polyneices and Eteocles dying in war; they killed each other tragically while fighting over the throne of Thebes. Eteocles...

Throughout Antigone two powers fight each other with full strength. These powers being
fate and freewill. Which force is the stronger force? The will of a human, pushed by feelings, or
the brute force of the gods and goddesses that set a destiny for each individual from the date of
birth.
When creon says,
“I know it too, and it perplexes me./
To yield is grievous, but the obstinate soul/ ...

Effective Sympathy in Oedipus Rex and the Ideal Tragic Hero
It can be difficult to fully sympathize with a character such as Oedipus Rex. Marjorie Barstow’s article successfully evokes sympathy for the reader of Oedipus by elucidating the misunderstood ethics that are central to the play. Oedipus Rex and the Ideal Tragic Hero compelled me to re-examine Oedipus’ morals in his search for the truth.
Barstow begins by explaining why an audience may not receive the full message the play has...

I strongly agree with the statement “there is no literature without conflict”. It applies well to the play Antigone by Jean Anouilh. The most significant conflict exists between Antigone and Creon the king. Despite this major conflict, there is also another minor conflict between Antigone and Ismene. Conflicts do not have to be between two people. A good example would be whether or not to obey the law, when Antigone decides whether she should take the risk and try to bury her deceased brothers....

According to Aristotle, Oedipus in the play Oedipus Rex by Sophacles would be a prime example of a tragic hero as he perfectly portrays the qualities of good, consistency and necessary or probable. The quality of good played by Oedipus in the play Oedipus Rex is a perfect portrayal for the element of character in a good tragedy. Aristotle discusses, "First, and most important, it must be good…the character will be good if the purpose is good" (Aristotle, 6). First and foremost, a character in a...

Oedipus as a Tragedy by Aristotle’s Definition
A tragedy by definition is “a drama which recounts an important and casually related series of events in the life of a person of significance, such events culminating in an unhappy catastrophe, the whole treated with great dignity
and seriousness”. The Greek tragedies are plays based on myths which were well known and enjoyed by audiences. Most of the plays encompassed certain elements that Aristotle identified in his...

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Name: Miriam Gauci Student Number: 215253
The Tragic Fate of Our Human Birth
Sophocles wrote this particular tragedy play to warn the audience of the dangers and consequences associated with a dictatorial city. The two main characters in the play are Antigone and her uncle Creon who is the king of Thebes. In the play Creon passes a decree stating that Eteocies will receive a sacred and honorable funeral for defending the city against its enemy. While Polyneices body will be left...

Zaky/ 1
Decisions comprise an essential part of our lives, as we make many of them on a daily basis. A decision consists of arriving at a conclusion after careful consideration and reflection upon the different aspects involved; these include consequences, drawbacks, people who are involved and how they will be affected. To avoid detrimental consequences, contemplation is imperative; however, the characters of King Creon and the Girl from the plays ‘Antigone’ and ‘Blood Wedding’ fail to do so....

Tragedy at its Finest
In the Greek play Antigone, Creon and Antigone can both be claimed the title of Tragic Hero. Creon was made king when Oedipus Rex fled the kingship. Creon is the brother in law of Oedipus, and was giving the kingship only because Oedipus’s sons, Eteocles and Polyneices were killed trying to fight for the thrown. Antigone is Oedipus’s daughter and Creon’s niece. When it comes down to who the tragic hero is, Creon most definitely walks away with the title.
A tragic hero...

In the play Antigone by Sophocles, Antigone chooses to abide by the laws of the Gods rather than the precepts of the mortals. Although Antigone's actions were rash and often disputable, she does the right thing by deciding to follow her individual conscience rather than obeying the laws of the state. Her decision to go against Creon's decree in order to bury Polyneices leads to many unfortunate consequences. Although she is faced with death, imprisonment, and suicide, Antigone is not regretful....

Oedipus: A Tragic Hero
Aristotle’s tragic hero is one of the most recognizable types of heroes among literature. A tragic hero combines five major points all of which have to do with the hero’s stature in society, his faults, how these faults effect him, the punishment his faults gets him, and how he reacts to this punishment. Aristotle explained that the story of Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, is a perfect example of a tragic hero. In the play, Oedipus is given a prophecy in which...

Antigone vs. Ismene
In the Greek tragedy Antigone, the playwright Sophocles developed his characters with strongly contrasting personalities. The sisters Antigone and Ismene are foils to each other, in that they are characters with completely opposite personalities. Antigone is strong, stubborn, and stands up for what she believes in, while Ismene is weak, obedient to the law, and very passive. Throughout the play, Antigone and Ismene display their opposing beliefs and personalities.
When...

﻿Salma Aceves
Antigone by Sophocles Novel Review
1. Antigone— The title of this play perfectly mirrors what happens in the story. Antigone has two meaning, one of them being “unbending”. This reflects Antigone’s unwillingness to follow the king’s orders and determination at giving her brother a proper burial.
2. List 5-8 important pieces of biographical information that is directly relevant to the work and the distinguishing characteristics of the author. Include such things as...

﻿Kyla Johnson
K. Squires
Honors English II
3 September 2014
Ewans, Michael. “The Literary Origins of Antigone.” Sophocles, Bloom’s Major
Dramatists (2007): xlvii-xlix. Literary Reference Center. Web. 26 Aug. 2014
Michael Ewans weighs both Antigone’s and Kreon’s role as central characters in this tragic play by Sophocles, but soon develops a strong interest in favor of Antigone. Ewan states “Antigone deserves the title role because her courage and conviction, her absolute and...

Arguello !1
Toby Arguello
Forms of Drama
Carol Rocamora
October 19 2014
!
One of the greatest philosophical and scholarly debates since the age of Enlightenment is
the argument over whether human free will actually exists, or is it just an optimistic illusion. This
deliberation has been the subject and driving force of multiple tragedies, perhaps most famously
Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex and William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Macbeth. These timeless
classics placed literary recognition and relevance...

A famous German philosopher named Hegel claimed, “At the heart of the Greek tragedy is the spectacle of right vs. right.” The central idea of the tragedies was not about who was right and wrong, because those two would be effortless to separate from each other, but on who was considered the most right, which would many times be difficult to tell apart. Throughout the tragic play, Antigone, written by the ancient Greek playwright, Sophocles, Antigone was proven to be the most right. This can be...

Antigone
Antigone was written by Sophocles, after the age of 50. Antigone is a play used to show Aristotle’s Definition of a Tragic Hero. His definition of a tragic hero is a man who is held in a high place of society and is brought down by the decisions he makes; because of that, his punishment may exceed the crime. In the end, he must accept the fact as to why he has fallen. The tragic hero of Antigone was Creon, who was king of Thebes. Creon is a tragic hero because he is a man of...